The government is working hard to revamp a number of state-owned enterprises (SOE) that have persistently recorded losses. Deputy Minister for Business Development and Restructuring of the Ministry of SOE Aloysius Kiik Ro said on Thursday (1/14) that he’s currently proposing to invite strategic investors to revamp four SOEs.

These SOEs are PT. Merpati Nusantara Airlines, PT. Kertas Kraft Aceh, PT. Kertas Leces, and PT. Iglas. According to Aloysius, private investors will be invited to manage these four SOEs.

Meanwhile, Assistant Deputy Minister for Business Development and Restructuring Lily Chairiah said that Merpati’s debts currently reached IDR8 trillion and the company has ceased operations for almost a year. The Ministry of SOE is currently working to restructure the company. “Restructuring fund to stop Merpati from bleeding and then we will propose a privatization,” she said.

Beside restructuring, the Ministry of SOE also plans to encourage a number of SOEs to go public. For example, PT. Perkebunan Nusantara VII will soon go public in the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The SOE is engaged in palm oil, sugarcane, tea and rubber plantations.

The plan is currently being proposed to the Privatization Committee and will be discussed before the end of this month. Once the plan is approved, it will be discussed with the House of Representatives and the Financial Services Authority.

In addition to PTPN VII, a state construction firm PT. Brantas Abhipraya also intends to make an initial public offering (IPO) which is currently being evaluated by the Ministry of SOE. “That’s a good idea but it is currently being processed by Mr Pontas (Pontas Tambunan, Deputy Minister for Construction, Facilities, and Infrastructure),” said Aloysius